Wednesday, February 1, 2012

Do you have a meaningless tattoo? (Sarcasm)

Today someone linked me to a news article that says tattoos are classless and worthless" written by Lisa Khoury but I beg to differ. I myself have a tattoo of the "Support Our Troops Decal" that many people put on their bumpers to show support for our soldiers and I am far from "Classless" I decided to get the tattoo four years ago as a tribute to the fallen soldiers families I have met and for my friends I met that were serving our countries overseas.

I have also in the last five years received numerous photos from members of my page who have gotten tribute tattoos to fallen comrades or loved ones and I featured some of them in a YouTube video for "The Gratitude Project" (YouTube video below)

My Support our Troops tattoo

"Can you get meaning out of a tattoo? Arguably. If you want to insert ink into your skin as a symbol for something greater than yourself, then maybe you are proving a point to yourself or the rest of the world." - Lisa Khoury

Hi Lisa, I want to say thank you for writing such a ignorant article today, you see I'm probably the only person that will say that to you and if you are wondering why? As I posted your story on my "Thank A Soldier" facebook page, people began to post their photos of their meaningful tattoos. Families of fallen soldiers emailed me there tributes and people came together in something very special and positive. All Day I struggled as to what I would write to you that anger turned in to something positive.Dave Murphy - Thank A Soldier

If you have a "Meaningful" tribute tattoo that you would like to post head on over to "Thank A Soldier" and post your photo and story as to why you had it done.

If however you would like to email your thoughts to Lisa Khoury CLICK HERE

The above is a series of tributes done for Pte. Chad Horn and features Chad's tattoo he had done himself. Before he was KIA serving our country in Afghanistan Chad got the words "For Those I Love I Will Sacrifice" tattood on his back. Chad was killed in September 2008 and the tattoo in the top right is his mother Anita's tribute. To the left is his sister Tiffany's tribute and also Jim's tribute to his stepson. I met members of the Horn family shortly after his death and had the honour of meeting many of them at his funeral here in Calgary. Anita is one of the classiest women I know and every time she talks about her son you can see the love in her eyes. This is their families way of remembering their son & brother and I don't think I need to say anymore about how meaningful a tribute it is.

This tattoo is Damian Dyke's tribute to fallen soldiers the quote across his soldiers is from a DMX song and reads :

""If it takes for me to suffer for my brother to see the light, Give me pain till I die, but please Lord treat him right"

Damien served as a personnel support worker for the Canadian Forces for four years in Afghanistan and this was his way of showing respect to our fallen heroes.The tattoo was inspired by a Slyvia Picota painting called "Croix"

Collection of photos of my group members tattoos

Ivan Henderson is a tattoo artist near CFP Petawawa, in Ontario and this is his response to Lisa Khoury CLICK HERE TO READ

10 comments:

I don't think she gets to decide for me what it meaningless.I have a yellow ribbon tied around my wrist that is slowly being inked to also include poppys and the phrase 'love is worth missing'Among my many other tattoos, my arm one is my favorite. Along with my husband's arm, that has a verse 'There is no greater love than to lay down one's life for one's friends'.Meanless to her, I suppose, but I doubt many people fail to see the meaning behind them.

I wonder if Ms. Khoury has taken the time to speak with any of the bearers of these "tacky" tattoos. I would like to show her my friend, Chad Horn's tattoo. His read "For those I love, I will sacrifice". Sadly he can't show her his tattoo in person, as he was KIA in Afghanistan. She can however see this "meaningless" tattoo on the backs of his fellow soldiers and friends who wear them as a tribute.

Tattoos are never "meaningless"!!! Sure some of us get tattoos when we are younger as a fad or meaning things that later in life you may not feel the same about, but the majority of people who get tattoos get them for MEANINGFUL reasons! All of the military based tattoos I have ever seen have been done as a symbol of personal appreciation or remembrance! Take for example the ex British soldier who has gotten a tattoo done listing all of the names of the British soldiers who have been killed in Afghanistan...how can that be meaningless??? To care enough about something or someone to ink it upon yourself for life shows an immense commitment! Getting a tattoo does not ruin "your temple"; most temples around the world are adorned with images! And no one would dare say a temple has "meaningless" images on it!!

I have many tattoos that show my pride in my Irish heritage, my pride in my country and I also have a poppy with a yellow ribbon tied to it with the the words above and below it "Lest We Forget". The only meanless thing about this is that she choice to write such a piece of crap.

I have my own tattoo and it's meaningful to me. The most meaningful tattoo I've seen is from a Vietnam War Veteran. He fought in the bloodiest battle of the war, Hill 875. Out of all the troops involved in the fight, if you left the battle it was either in a med-evac helicopter if it didn't get shot down in the middle of the battle or in a body bag when it ended. My friend survived but was wounded, not wounded enough to go home and proudly finished his tour. He got his tattoo a few years ago and it's meaningful because not many can say they were in Dak To, on Hill 875 and survived.

I can't post the picture here for some reason, but I have a link to it here... http://tinypic.com/r/ipvdib/5

Im young and have always loved the idea of tattoo's and the first tattoo i ever got was my sons name. It has alot of meaning. I got his name tattoo'd because it will never come off just like how my love for him will never end. My next tattoo was a paragraph that was written in memory of my grandfather who died a few years ago. My other tattoo is a tribute to my sister who lives in another country and i cant see for years at a time. How is any of this meaningless or classless!?I also agree with what the other blogger said, who is she to tell me what is classy and what is meaningful? You have an opinion, great, but dont go around enforcing it on others.

There are plenty of 'elegant' women in this world with tattoo's. Yes, sometimes people get something they regret or didn't put much thought into, but what about all the other tattoo's out there. There are soooo many people who have 'inked' their body with a beautiful memory, or a sad one....whatever it may be, there are plenty of tattoo's that have meaning. Some tattoo's may be for show, but many have a deep and strong emotional attachment to the body it covers. Ivan has tattooed me and I love them! My next tattoo will be my son's name. I doubt anyone could say there is no meaning in that. If it's not 'classy' of me to show a part of me on the outside for most to see, then it's YOU that has to deal with it because I am simply unaplogetic!